Jinyong

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Louis Cha (Jinyong)
查良鏞（金庸）

Pseudonym:	Jinyong
Born:	February 6, 1924 (age 83) Haining, Zhejiang, China
Occupation:	novelist, essayist
Writing period:	1955-1972
Genres:	Wuxia

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Louis Cha (Traditional Chinese: 查良鏞; Simplified Chinese: 查良镛, also transliterated as Zha Liangyong, Cha Leung Yung), OBE (born February 6, 1924), known to most by his penname Jinyong (金庸, also transliterated Jin Yong or Kam-yung), is one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists. Co-founder of the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao, he was its first editor-in-chief and held this position until 1993.

Cha's fiction has a widespread following in Chinese-speaking areas, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. His fifteen novels and short fiction – composed between 1955 and 1972 – earned him a reputation as one of the finest wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") writer ever. He is the best-selling Chinese author alive; over 300 million copies of his works have been sold worldwide (over 1 billion if one includes bootleg copies)^[1]

Cha's works have been translated into Korean, English, Japanese, French, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai and he has many fans abroad as well, thanks to the numerous adaptations of his works made into films, television series, and video games.

Asteroid 10930 Jinyong (1998 CR₂) is named after him.^[2]

[edit] Biography

A native of Haining county, Zhejiang province, China, Cha is the second of seven children from an illustrious family of scholars; his grandfather was a jinshi. Cha was an avid reader of literature from an early age, especially of wuxia fiction. He first studied at Zhejiang Province Jiaxing High School, and was admitted to the Faculty of Foreign Languages in Chunking Central University^{[citation needed]}. He later transferred to the Faculty of Law at Dongwu University to major in International Law.

In 1947, Cha entered Shanghai's newspaper Ta Kung Pao as a journalist. One year later, he was posted to the Hong Kong division as a copyeditor. When Cha was transferred to Hsin Wan Pao as Deputy Editor, he met Chen Wentong, who in 1953 wrote his first wuxia novel under the pseudonym Liang Yusheng (梁羽生). Chen and Cha became good friends, and it was under the former's influence that Cha began work on his first serialized martial arts novel, The Romance of the Book and Sword, in 1955. In 1957, while still working on wuxia serializations, he quit his previous job and worked as a scenarist-director and scriptwriter at the Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd and Phoenix Film Company.

In 1959, together with fellow high-school mate Shen Pao Sing (沈寶新), Cha founded the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao. Cha served as its Editor-in-Chief for years, writing both serialized novels and editorials. His editorials were well respected, and Ming Pao gained a reputation as one of Hong Kong's most highly rated press. Cha wrote his last wuxia novel in 1972, after which he officially retired from writing, and spent the remaining years of that decade editing and revising his literary works instead. The first complete definitive edition of his works appear in 1979.

By then, Cha's martial arts novels have earned great popularity in Chinese-speaking areas. All of his novels have since been adapted into films, TV series and radio series in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. The important characters in his novels are so well-known to the public that they can be alluded to with ease between all three regions.

In later years in the 1970s, Cha was involved in Hong Kong politics. He was a member of the Hong Kong Basic Law drafting committee, although, after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, he resigned in protest. He was also part of the Preparatory Committee set up in 1996 to supervise Hong Kong's transition by the Chinese government.^[3]

In 1993, Cha prepared for retirement from editorial work, selling all his shares in Ming Pao. Together with the royalties from his works, Cha's personal wealth is estimated at some HK$600 million.

[edit] Decorations and conferments

In addition to his novels, Cha has also written many non-fiction works on the history of China. For his achievements, he has received many honors.

Cha was awarded the OBE in 1981. He is a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (1992) and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2004), both awarded by the French government.^[4]

Cha has also been made an honorary professor by Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nankai University, Soochow University, Huaqiao University, National Tsing Hua University, Hong Kong University (Department of Chinese Studies), the University of British Columbia, and Sichuan University, as well as an honorary doctor by Hong Kong University (Department of Social Science), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Open University of Hong Kong, the University of British Columbia, Soka University and the University of Cambridge. He is also an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford and Robinson College, Cambridge, and Wynflete Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

When receiving his honorary doctorate at the University of Cambridge, Cha expressed a wish to be a full-time student at Cambridge for 4 years to attain a non-honorary doctorate.^[5] As of April 2006, Cha started studying for his PhD in Oriental Studies (Chinese History) at St. John's College, Cambridge.

[edit] Novels

Oxford University Press edition of Louis Cha's final wuxia novel, The Deer and the Cauldron

Cha wrote a total of 15 pieces, of which one ("Sword of the Yue Maiden") was a short story and the other 14 were novels and novellas of various length. Most of his novels were initially published in daily instalments in the newspaper. The book editions were printed later. In order of publication these are (alternate translation in parentheses):

1. The Book and the Sword - T: 書劍恩仇錄 S: 书剑恩仇录 (first published on The New Evening Post in 1955)
2. Sword Stained with Royal Blood - T: 碧血劍 S: 碧血剑 (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1956)
3. The Legend of the Condor Heroes - T: 射鵰英雄傳 S: 射雕英雄传 (first published on Hong Kong Commercial Daily in 1957)
4. Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain - T: 雪山飛狐 S: 雪山飞狐 (first installment appeared on the first issue of Ming Pao in 1959)
5. The Return of the Condor Heroes - T: 神鵰俠侶 S: 神雕侠侣 (1959)
6. Other Tales of the Flying Fox - T: 飛狐外傳 S: 飞狐外传 (1960)
7. Swordswoman Riding West on White Horse T: 白馬嘯西風 S: 白马啸西风 (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
8. Blade-dance of the Two Lovers T: 鴛鴦刀 S: 鸳鸯刀 (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
9. Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre - T: 倚天屠龍記 S: 倚天屠龙记 (first published on Ming Pao in 1961)
10. A Deadly Secret - T: 連城訣 S: 连城诀 (first published on Southeast Asia Weekly 《東南亞周刊》in 1963)
11. Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils - T: 天龍八部 S: 天龙八部 (1963)
12. Ode to Gallantry - T: 俠客行 S: 侠客行(1965)
13. The Smiling, Proud Wanderer - 笑傲江湖 (first published on Ming Pao in 1967)
14. The Deer and the Cauldron - T: 鹿鼎記 S: 鹿鼎记 (1969-1972)
15. Sword of the Yue Maiden - T: 越女劍 S: 越女剑 (1970)

Of these, the novels (The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber) make up a trilogy that should be read in that sequence; a number of his other works are also linked to this trilogy (Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is somewhat of a precursor to the Condor series). Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain and The Young Flying Fox are companion pieces with the same protagonist with appearances of characters from The Book and the Sword. His final novel The Deer and the Cauldron is the most light-hearted and arguably one of his most popular.

[edit] Couplet

After Jinyong completed all his titles, another famous Chinese writer and Jinyong's close friend Ni Kuang discovered that the first characters of the first 14 titles can be joined together to form a couplet with 7 characters on each line:

Traditional Chinese

飛雪連天射白鹿
笑書神俠倚碧鴛

Simplified Chinese

飞雪连天射白鹿
笑书神侠倚碧鸳

Loose translation

Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around the skies;
Smiling, [one] writes about the divine chivalrous one, leaning against bluish lovebirds (or lover)

Cha himself has stated that he has never intended for any such couplet, or to have 14 books in the first place; and his explanation is reasonable, since the couplet itself sounds somewhat forced in the second line. Thus, the couplet serves primarily as a handy mnemonic to remember all of Jinyong's work for his fans.

[edit] Editions

Most of Jinyong's work were initially published in instalments in Hong Kong newspapers, most often in Ming Pao. The Return of the Condor Heroes was his first novel serialized in Ming Pao, which was launched on 20 May 1959. Between 1970 and 1980, Jinyong revised all of his work. The result is called the "New Edition" (新版, also known as 修訂版), in contrast with the "Old Edition" (舊版).

In Taiwan, the situation is more complicated, as Jinyong's books were initially banned. As a result, there were multiple editions published underground, some of which were revised beyond recognition. Only in 1979 was Jinyong's complete collection published by Taiwan's Yuenching Publishing House (遠景出版社).

In mainland China, the Wulin (武林) magazine in Guangzhou became the first to officially publish Jinyong's work, starting from 1980. Jinyong's complete collection in Simplified Chinese was published by Beijing's Sanlian Shudian (三联书店) in 1994. Meanwhile Minheshe Singapore-Malaysia (明河社星马分公司) published Jinyong's collection, in Simplified Chinese for Southeast Asian readers in 1995.

From 1999 to 2006, Jinyong revised his novels for the second (and probably last) time. Each of his works is carefully revised, re-edited and re-issued in the order when he wrote them. This revision has been completed in spring 2006, with the publication of the last, The Deer and the Cauldron. The newly revised edition, known variably as the 世紀新修版, 新修版 or 新新版 (in contrast to 新版), is noted for annotations in which Jinyong answers criticisms directed against the historical accuracy of his work.

[edit] Themes

Chinese nationalism is a strong theme in Jinyong's work. Throughout his books, Jinyong places great emphasis on Han Chinese self-determination and identity, and many of his novels are set in time periods when China proper was occupied or under the threat of occupation by northern peoples such as Khitans, Jurchens, Mongols, or Manchus. However, Jinyong gradually evolved Chinese nationalism into an inclusionist concept which encompasses all present-day non-Han minorities. Jinyong himself expresses a fierce admiration for positive traits of non-Han Chinese people, like the Mongols and Manchus. In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, for example, he casts Genghis Khan and his sons as capable and intelligent military leaders against the corrupt and ineffective bureaucrats of the Han Chinese Song Dynasty. And similarly, in The Deer and the Cauldron, Jinyong portrays the Manchu Kangxi Emperor as a sovereign of compassion and ability. In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Xiao Feng's split loyalty between his blood ancestry as a Khitan and his adopted Han Chinese identity led to his demise.

Jinyong's books are often said to be a mini-encyclopedia on Chinese customs and culture, with references ranging from Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, wushu, music, calligraphy, weiqi, tea culture, philosophical thoughts like Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and imperial Chinese history. Historical figures often intermingle with fictional ones, making it difficult for the layperson to distinguish which is which — a feature that attests to the believability of his characters.

His works clearly show a great amount of respect and approval for traditional Chinese values, especially Confucian ideals such as the proper relationship between empire and subject, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, and (particularly strongly, due to the wuxia nature of his novels), between master and disciple, and fellow disciples. However, he sometimes questions the validity of these values in the face of a modern society. This is particularly obvious in the ostracism experienced by his two main characters — Yang Guo's romantic relationship with his martial arts master Xiaolongnü (which was considered highly improper) in The Return of the Condor Heroes. Jinyong also places a great amount of emphasis on traditional values such as face and honour.

Finally, Jinyong breaks all the rules down in his final work The Deer and the Cauldron, whose anti-hero protagonist, Wei Xiaobao, is a bastard brothel boy who is greedy, lazy, and utterly disdainful of traditional rules of propriety.

[edit] Criticisms

Three generations of actors playing one of Jinyong's most famous couples - the brave, none-too-bright Guo Jing and the impish, witty Huang Rong. Top: 1983 Hong Kong's TVB version starring Felix Wong and Barbara Yung; Middle: 1994 Hong Kong's TVB version starring Julian Cheung and Athena Chu; Bottom: 2003 Mainland China's CCTV version starring Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun

The study of Jinyong's work has spun off an individual area of study and discussion: Jinology. For years, readers and critics have written works discussing, debating and analyzing his fictional world of martial arts; amongst the most famous are by Jinyong's close friend and famous Chinese sci-fi novelist, Ni Kuang, who has written series of criticism analyzing the various personalities in his books.

Despite Jinyong's popularity, some of his novels were banned outside Hong Kong due to political reasons. A number of them were outlawed in the People's Republic of China in the 1970s as they were thought to be satires of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution; others were banned in the Republic of China on Taiwan as they were thought to be in support of the Communist Party of China. None of these bans exists today, and Jinyong's complete collection has been published multiple times in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Many politicians on both sides of the Straits are known to be readers of his works; Deng Xiaoping, for example, was himself an avowed fan.

In late 2004, the People's Education Publishing House (人民教育出版社) of the People's Republic of China sparked off controversy by including an excerpt from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部) in a new senior high school Chinese textbook. While some praised the inclusion of popular literature, others feared that the violence and unrealistic martial arts described in Jinyong's work were unsuitable for high school students. At about the same time, Singapore's Ministry of Education announced a similar move for Chinese-learning students at secondary and junior college levels.^[6]

[edit] Characters

See also: List of characters in Condor Trilogy

[edit] Leading Male Characters

Lead male characters of Jinyong novels are often portrayed from a young age (around adolescence). The plot usually follows their trials and tribulations, before they eventually (usually) attain the highest levels of martial arts.

[edit] Leading Female Characters

While leading female characters are mostly depicted in a supporting role in many contemporary martial arts works, many leading female characters in Jinyong's novels are central to the plots, and depicted as strong, independent, and intelligent individuals as well as accomplished martial artists. For example, Huang Rong in The Legend of the Condor Heroes is portrayed not only as a faithful lover of the male protagonist Guo Jing but is also depicted as an independent, street-smart individual. Her intelligence and quick thinking is complementary to his physical strength. The female protagonist Huo Qingtong in Book and Sword: Gratitude and Revenge is a strong martial artist, a protective elder sister, a loyal daughter, and a guardian who vehemently fights for her people's interests. Indeed, she saw more fighting in the book than the male protagonist Chen Jialuo. Even though Qingtong's younger sister Princess Fragrance does not know wuxia, she plays an essential role in the novel. Near the end of the novel, Princess Fragrance shows that she is not just beautiful but also intelligent enough to see through the emperor's design. She also has the courage to sacrifice herself to uphold her and her tribe's dignity and warn Chen Jialuo of the true intentions of the emperor. Yin Susu, Zhao Min, and Zhou Zhiruo are well characterized, showing courage, determination, and intelligence that equal, if not exceed those of the male protagonists in The Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Saber.

[edit] The Five Supreme Martial Artists (五絕)

One of the most successful portrayal of characters in Jinyong's works is the creation of the "Five Supreme" martial art practitioners in the Condor Heroes series. The quintet, which originally comprised Huang Yaoshi ("東邪" 黃藥師) ("East Heretic"), Ouyang Feng of the West ("西毒" 歐陽鋒) ("West Poison"), Duan Zhixing ("南帝" 段智興) ("South Emperor"), Hong Qigong ("北丐" 洪七公) ("North Beggar") and Wang Chongyang ("中神通" 王重陽) ("Central Divinity") in Condor Heroes after the first Duel of Hua Shan (華山論劍), proved to be both a source of controversies and a scene of drama as the story proceed through Condor Heroes into The Return of the Condor Heroes. The composition of the quintet was eventually updated to comprise Huang Yaoshi ("東邪" 黃藥師) ("East Heretic"), Yang Guo ("西狂" 楊過) ("West Obsession"), Yideng the Monk ("南僧" 一燈) ("South Monk"), Guo Jing ("北俠" 郭靖) ("North Hero") and Zhou Botong ("中頑童" 周伯通) ("Central Mischief").

[edit] Dugu Qiu Bai (獨孤求敗)

Dugu Qiu Bai is a unique character in Jinyong's novels. The character himself never appeared in any of the novel, only his name was mentioned. His name was first mentioned in The Return of the Condor Heroes, and then again in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (笑傲江湖). He was last mentioned in The Deer and the Cauldron.

[edit] Adaptation of Actual Historical Figures

Jinyong was very liberal in adapting actual historical characters into his books, often making them important support characters and attributing to them fictional dialogue, actions, and so forth, especially where the historical records are brief or silent as to their biographical details. For example, Borjigin Tolui, the youngest son of Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, appears as a boyhood friend of Guo Jing, protagonist of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty becomes a confidant and close friend of Wei Xiaobao, the protagonist in The Deer and the Cauldron.

[edit] Schools

A recurring theme in contemporary martial arts books is to group characters into different schools and sects and to portrait heroics of the main characters in the context of historical rivalries between and schools of martial arts. Jinyong's books are no exception to this. Many of the schools of martial arts portrayed by Jinyong's works, such as the Shaolin Monastery Sect (少林派) and the Wudang School (T: 武當派 S: 武当派), did exist in real life, though their details are inevitably subject to the artistic license of Jinyong; other cults, such as the Beggars' Sect (T: 丐幫 S: 丐帮), are mostly imaginary. It should be noted that Jinyong's portrait of the schools and sects are mostly in line with their contemporary image in martial arts literature, and new sects (such as the Ming Cult 明教) is the exception rather than the norm in Jinyong's works.

[edit] Timeline

¹ — The timeframe of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer is unspecified; Jinyong states that it is intentionally left ambiguous because the novel is allegorical in nature. Nevertheless, people have speculated on the timeframe; the most possible candidate is the Ming Dynasty, because the Wudang and Emei sects (founded at the start of the Ming Dynasty) appear prominently, and because the Manchus (who destroyed the Ming Dynasty) are not mentioned. In several movie adaptations including 'Swordsman II' starring Jet Li, the story is specified to take place during the reign of the Wanli Emperor, which would make it the late Ming Dynasty but just before the period of Manchu encroachment.

[edit] Jinyong in English

In the last few years, Jinyong's novels have been translated into English. The books currently available are:

• The Book and the Sword (書劍恩仇錄) - published by Oxford University Press, translated by Graham Earnshaw, edited by John Minford and Rachel May
• The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記) (in three volumes) - published by Oxford University Press, translated by John Minford
• The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳) - forthcoming from John Minford and Oxford University Press (This project was abandoned a few years ago.)
• Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain (雪山飛狐) - published by the China University Press, translated by Olivia Mok

Other works available in English include:

• Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (倚天屠龍記) - in comic book form by Wing Shing Ma, published by ComicsOne
• The Legendary Couple (神鵰俠侶) - in comic book form by Tony Wong, published by ComicsOne
• Laughing in the Wind (笑傲江湖) - DVD collection of the 2001 CCTV series with English subtitles released in the United States.

[edit] Adaptations

There are more than sixty TV series and films adapted from Jinyong's novel. Dozens of role-playing games are based on Jinyong's novels, a notable example of which is Heroes of Jinyong (金庸群俠傳), which was based on the major characters in Jinyong's novels.

[edit] References